


creature only.

by artemis_sighs



Category: Just Roll With It (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, eventual braaxi, how the fuck do you use ao3 holy shit, i am soft, implied braaxi pining, no sexual content for me, perhaps i'll continue this, uhh arc2 ep1 spoilers kinda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 10:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24349888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis_sighs/pseuds/artemis_sighs
Summary: hi! i'd like to clarify that i have no clue how ao3 works! if i missed a tag im sorry.i've taken taxi and oriana's relationship to be very up in the air.i'd like to clarify that i've never been to a bar or a karaoke night. also, i haven't written properly in a good few years.enjoy! pleasei'll add more character tags when i can get on my laptop, ao3's being a bit mean lol
Relationships: Br'aad Vengolor/Taxi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 80





	1. made in glory

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i'd like to clarify that i have no clue how ao3 works! if i missed a tag im sorry.  
> i've taken taxi and oriana's relationship to be very up in the air.  
> i'd like to clarify that i've never been to a bar or a karaoke night. also, i haven't written properly in a good few years.  
> enjoy! please  
> i'll add more character tags when i can get on my laptop, ao3's being a bit mean lol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> taxi and br'aad get a bit tipsy and taxi realizes a few things.

It started out with getting a bit too tipsy.

Not tipsy enough to fuck a guy in the garden attached to the inn they had decided to set camp in for the next few nights, but still. Tipsy enough to make a few mistakes that you'd rather forget.

Unfortunately, it was karaoke night, which was in all honesty a gamble. Either there were amazingly talented singers or overly drunk singers who were too drunk to care about being embarassed.

Mountain was HAMMERED the moment he heard the word "karaoke," knowing he'd regret it if he didn't. Sylnan drank a bit, though kept a close eye on Br'aad, who was a notorious lightweight. Taxi drank enough, careful to stray away from 'drunk'. Of course, Velrisa never touched a drop of the liquid - just in case.

Br'aad found himself on the stage. It was bound to happen - present a bard with a magnetic personality and smile ( ~~and gorgeous eyes and a wonderful~~ ) and of COURSE they'd take the opportunity to shine.

His eyes found Taxi's, who had a raised eyebrow, amused to see what his friend would decide on. He wasn't ready for a fucking LOVE SONG.

Br'aad poured his heart out, keeping rythym with the music perfectly and capturing the audience easily. Taxi felt sad when the song called for it, then happy again, then so in love. He felt his skin heat up as he realized Br'aad's eyes were on him for a majority of the song. It was almost like the song was for him. ~~It was~~.

_No. No, no, no, no._ Taxi ran a paw through his fur, setting his tankard down and shaking his head slightly. It couldn't. Br'aad couldn't have meant it for him. He just liked seeing him flustered, that was all. ~~He did.~~

The song ended, and the tavern erupted into applause after a moment. Br'aad took a deep breath, his chest heaving as he smiled brightly at the crowd. It was the first time he'd broke eye contact since the song started. As he made his way towards the rest of the party, Taxi caught whispers and snickers from the woman beside him and Sylnan. Velrisa bumped her elbow into Taxi's rib playfully before she and Sylnan shared a knowing look. Standing up, Vel and Syl hoisted Mountain up out of his chair.

"We're gonna take Mountain up. Y'know, so we don't waste gold again. Don't get too wasted." Velrisa winked, and Taxi felt his entire body seem to burn. The trio disappeared up the stairs and into the rooms. Br'aad slid into his chair moments after, downing a tankard of cider and mead before wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. 

"That was.. beautiful," Taxi managed out as he prayed to his goddess that his skin cool down.

"Thank you. I really tried."

"I could tell." The pair fell into silence again, Br'aad's finger absently hovering above his drink and twirling to make the liquid inside turn. Taxi let himself zone out, ears perking at the sound of someone else getting up on stage and attempting to top Br'aad's performance. ~~He found himself staring at Br'aad's lips, wanting to close the limited distance between the two and~~

_FUCK_. 


	2. depths of the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the stars are pretty, and so is br'aad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres like one nsfw joke lol sorry. didn't spellcheck or anything so if theres something that doesn't seem right or whatever lmk pls
> 
> edit: just realised i named this chapter the same thing as chap1 uhm

The stars shone brightly in the sky above the two. After a few more drinks, the two decided to stargaze until they were tired. Taxi laid in the grass, his eyes closed and humming quietly. Br'aad sat up with his arms propping him and his head turned towards the sky. 

This was nice. Taxi only heard the faint whisper of people chatting as they passed the pair on a road far away and the distant noise of instruments from the tavern. He opened his eyes, turning his head towards Br'aad to speak. 

His breath caught in his throat. 

Br'aad, with his long hair tied in a braid and flowers scattered in, and his purple eyes turned to the sky, was stunning. 

He was pretty. Taxi knew that instantly when he met him. But somehow this felt different. Br'aad's eyes caught the stars and shone with a brilliance that could rival the Sun's. Taxi could only stare, jumping slightly when Br'aad laughed and turned his eyes towards him. 

"You're staring, Tax." 

"Shit- sorry." Taxi's eyes darted back towards the sky. He could see Br'aad smile and let himself fall back next to Taxi in the grass, folding his hands on top of his chest. A cool breeze pushed through the tabaxi's fur. He closed his eyes again for a moment, reopening when he heard Br'aad shift. 

"Thank you." 

"Hm? What for?" 

"I dunno. Talking to me and sticking with the party. Even with everything. Sylnan's whole dying thing and then the heist and.. I dunno," he repeated. He shrugged. "Just being there." 

Taxi smiled, gently pushing Br'aad. "'Course. You're my friend. I wouldn't just abandon you like that." 

Br'aad smiled too, resting his head on Taxi's chest. 

They stayed there for a bit, Br'aad's head on Taxi's chest staring at the sky. 

Peace. For the first time in a long time, the pair felt total peace. 

\-- 

Eventually, they got up. Br'aad drowsily leaned against the tabaxi's back as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Taxi smiled, shaking his head and making his way back to the tavern. 

Velrisa opened the door to the shared room, allowing Taxi in. Br'aad slid off his back and onto one of the vacant beds. 

The door closed behind him. Velrisa raised an eyebrow.   
"Had fun?"   
"I mean.. Yeah. Not like that," he added hurriedly as she smirked. "We just layed there and stargazed for a bit. It was.. nice. Peaceful." His eyes drifted towards the sleepy half-elf, a smile forming on Br'aad's face as he drifted off. Taxi couldn't help but smile too. 

"Gods above, you're fuckin whipped." Sylnan wiped the remnants of soup he had in his hands off of his mouth, shaking his head slightly. 

"What-!"

"Oh, don't try to hide it. We saw how you loo-" 

"Shut up!"

Velrisa and Sylnan laughed. He handed Taxi a bowl of soup and a spoon without another word, going to lay down on one of the beds. 

They were right, of course. Taxi was whipped and he knew it. He shut his eyes after settling into a bed, head turned towards Br'aad. 


	3. blind me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> obligatory dream sequence. 
> 
> follow me on twitter: @G0ODNLGHT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, the chapter titles dont mean anything, theyre just lyrics from half alive's song creature.

Distant ticking of clocks, laughter, and a familiar coldness. He closed his eyes, steeling himself for the dizzy feeling of forcing his dreamscape to change.

Br'aad opened his eyes again, wincing as bright sunlight beat down on him. Flowered plains spread out as far as the eye could see, a slight breeze pushing the grass - and Br'aad's hair - back. He let it blow over him before looking around and spotting familiar silhouettes.

Taxi, Sylnan, Velrisa, Hilltree, and Mountain. 

Sylnan had his back up against a tree, laughing at something Mountain said. Taxi sat on a strong branch above Sylnan, his tail flicking and nearly snapping Velrisa in the head. Br'aad smiled and made his way over, sitting down in the grass and leaning back. 

The rest of the party chatted for a bit, just enjoying the peace of the field and taking comfort in one another's prescence. Br'aad's eyes flicked over to Taxi's. 

He noticed. Taxi sat up, still on the branch, though he extended his arm out. Br'aad stood up, taking his arm and climbing up the tree to sit next to him. As soon as Br'aad touched the tree, the scene changed. 

Br'aad stumbled, his vision slowly coming into focus. 

"Br'aad? Are you okay?" 

Taxi. Br'aad blinked, then realized he had one hand in Taxi's and the other on his chest. Dancing. They were dancing. Why were they dancing? 

"Br'aad?' Worry was evident on his face. He had stopped moving a moment ago, when Br'aad stumbled. 

"Y-yeah. Just - got dizzy for a moment." Br'aad blinked and looked around at the people around them. It seemed like a ballroom. Why..? 

"Let's go sit down for a moment." Taxi led him over to a table with wine glasses half empty. 

"Um.. remind me why we're at a ball?" He smiled sheepishly, taking a hesitant sip of the wineglass, as if afraid it was going to break in his hands. 

"Hilltree, of all people, has ties. We were invited alongside him. Apparently Hilltree saved someone close to some rich guy, which is a surprise. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" 

"Just-" and the scene shifted again. "-fine.."

This time, it was last night. Br'aad blinked. Why was Taxi involved in every single shift? 

"Hm?" Taxi turned his head towards the half-elf. _God, he was cute._

"Thinking out loud. Don't.. don't worry." He gave the tabaxi a small smile before returning to his thoughts for a moment. His back hit the grass and he turned his head toward Taxi's. 

_Dream. Right._ Br'aad hesitated before moving so his head was angled in front of the other man's. His lips pressed onto Taxi's, who only let out a small noise of surprise before tangling his hand into Br'aad's hair. 

It lasted for a few moments before Br'aad released, pressing his forehead to Taxi's. Purple met green. 

Br'aad woke up. 

\--

Sitting up, Br'aad yawned and looked around. Sylnan was fast asleep, as were Hilltree, Taxi, and Velrisa. He was the only and first one up. 

_Perfect_ _,_ he thought. He threw one last glance at Taxi.

Sliding out of the bed, he sighed and changed out of the grass-stained pants into clean ones, tossing them into a basket. Making his way downstairs, he rummaged through his coin purse to make sure he had enough for breakfast. 

"Good morning," the innkeeper cheerily called out. She set a mug down behind the bar and pulled a bowl out, ladling in warm oatmeal and sliding him a mug of apple cider. "4 gold, dear."

Br'aad dug out the gold and took his meal to an empty table, nodding in thanks. 

_Gods, I'm never going to be able to look at Taxi again._ Again, he sighed and dug in. 


	4. not afraid.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> br'aad accidentally lets something slip out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so ooc im so sorry 💔💔💔 its like 3am  
> ohh this is so poorly paced im probably going to rewrite this entire chapter tmrw 
> 
> follow me on twitter: @G0ODNLGHT

Taxi felt his body hit the ground with a loud thud. He grunted, ducking as a blast flew past his head. The party split up. Mountain, Sylnan, and Velrisa had gone shopping for supplies so they could start moving again, and Hilltree had fucked off somewhere. Of course, the only logical thing for the universe to throw at them the moment they split up was throwing Taxi and Br'aad into combat. Taxi had left his magical staff back at the inn in case something like this happened as it needed to be repaired. Instead, he brought along a nomal wooden quarterstaff with him.

It snapped just a moment ago. Next to him, one half of the broken staff sat next to him. He stayed low, diving behind a tree as another blast flew past him. 

Br'aad was somewhere still on the field, hopefully attempting to hit their opponent with one of his eldrich blasts. They hit hard and would, at the very least, stun the magician who, for whatever reason, really hated Br'aad. 

He peeked out just in time to see Br'aad hit the ground, much like Taxi had, with a groan. 

"Shit," the tabaxi cursed, getting out from behind his cover and grabbing the broken half of the quarterstaff he had left behind. Running at the magician, he swung the quarterstaff straight into their jaw. A loud crack told Taxi he had broken their jaw, leading them to stumble back as he rammed the tip of the staff into their stomach.

The magician fell back and coughed. 

"Holy shit, that was hot." 

Taxi immediately turned around to see Br'aad staring at him in admiration, a large gash on his arm. His face immediately lit up when he realized he said that outloud, making the tattoo on his face stand out even more. 

"..What?" _Eloquent, Taxi._

"Uh-"

"N-nevermind. You're bleeding, we need to get out of here before they heal." Taxi helped Br'aad up, running ahead while Br'aad chased behind him.

It was difficult to keep himself from slamming into a tree as the half-elf's words repeated over and over again in his head. He felt a strange sense of pride at making Br'aad blush, even though it was probably out of embarassment. Odd. Br'aad was rarely embarassed. 

Hm. 

\-- 

As soon as they got back to the inn and their room, he dug out some bandages and cleaned up the wound. "Until Velrisa gets back," was all he said. Br'aad mumbled a quiet "thanks". His eyes seemed to tear apart the wood below them as he avoided eye contact with Taxi. 

Something overcame Taxi. 

"So.." he started, stepping away from Br'aad. 

"So?"

"You think I'm hot, hm?" 

"Shut up!" A pillow flew at Taxi's face, hitting his chest instead. Taxi laughed, setting the pillow down. Br'aad hid his face in his hands, groaning. "I hate you." 

"No, you don't. I'll be back in a bit. That was my last spare." The door creaked open and then shut, leaving Br'aad to his thoughts. 

_Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit h_

Br'aad lifted his head from his hands, shaking his head in disbelief.

He really called Taxi hot directly. 

Holy shit. 

\--

The door opened again. Br'aad looked up to see Sylnan drop a few bags. 

"Whoa, what happened?"

"Well, I just went out to summon Liveclock and show Taxi a few tricks and some - some fuckin magician came out and like, tossed a few blasts at me? I'm really not sure. Splitting us up was the worst deicison, by the way." Br'aad took a deep breath in. "And then I called Taxi hot. To his face. After he broke the magician's jaw and rammed his broken half of his quarterstaff into their stomach and knocked them to the ground."

Sylnan stared at Br'aad, taking a moment to process the story. "Oh my god," was the only thing he breathed out. 

"Ugh." His head was in his hands again as his face heated up. "I'm so stupid."

"We'll talk about this later. I'm gonna get Velrisa real quick to heal your arm."

And then Br'aad was alone again, left to his thoughts.


	5. when you guide me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeeeeey sorry for the long wait i couldn't bring myself to write more for it but its back B)   
> sorry for the poor pacing, writers block man
> 
> twt: @VENG0L0RS

Like hell he only got Velrisa to heal him. Sylnan and Velrisa reappeared soon, Velrisa laughing quietly. Br'aad's cheeks burned. 

"Say a word to Mountain and I'll turn you into dust." 

"And what would I tell him?" she countered playfully, sitting down next to him and gently taking his arm. Her hands felt warm and had a slightly golden glow that wad commonly associated with healing magic.

"You know." Velrisa only smiled in response, the warmth disappearing in a moment. Sylnan stood against the doorframe, arms crossed. Br'aad shook his now-healed arm. "Thanks." 

"Where'd Taxi go, by the way? " Sylnan crossed the room and tossed his coinpurse onto the table, gold coins clinking against one another for a moment as it flew. 

"Went to go buy some more spare staffs, I think." His brother nodded and flopped down onto one of the beds, kicking his boots off. Velrisa sat down in a chair, pushing the door shut with her toe. 

After a beat of silence, Sylnan spoke. 

"You should tell him."

"What?" 

"Tell Taxi." Sylnan sat up now, looking directly at Br'aad. 

"Nah. isn't he still with Oriana?"

"Pretty sure they broke up, like, 5 months ago." 

"They did? What the fuck, thats news to me. Anyways, I.. don't think he likes me." Br'aad stared down at his hands in thought. Velrisa and Sylnan shared a look. 

"You'll never know until you try, Br'aad." Velrisa heaved herself out of her chair, brushing herself off. "Either way, I'm gonna go get something to eat." 

"I'll come with." Br'aad stood up and followed Velrisa out, waving bye to Sylnan.

\--

Taxi returned to the inn soon after, quarterstaffs in tow. Velrisa waved hello as he passed, Br'aad glancing over with a small smile. Taxi smiled back, walking up the stairs and opening the door to the party's shared inn room. Sylnan was spread out on a bed, eyes closed. Taxi gently shut the door, hoping that he wouldn't wake up the sleeping half-elf. Sylnan opened his eyes and looked over at Taxi, obviously awake. 

"Sorry, were you asleep?" 

"No. Just thinking." He watched as Taxi set the quarterstaffs down, retightening his coin pouch on his waist. 

"Guessing Vel healed Br'aad?" 

"Yeah. You injured?" The tabaxi shook his head, his tail flicking absently as he let himself get lost in thought. Sylnan closed his eyes again, lips pressed together in thought. 

"By the way. Ask him out."

"W-what?" Taxi felt his face heat up, fur raising in alarm. 

"Seriously!" Sylnan sat up, hands spread. "You're whipped,-" ( Taxi objected to this, though he quickly stopped talking when Sylnan shot him a glare ) "-Br'aad called you hot to your face, you're both so obvious." 

Taxi stared at Sylnan blankly, green eyes wide. He let out a breath, shrinking in on himself as Sylnan stared back. "Fine. When." 

The half-elf smiled, getting up to dig an advertisement out of a dresser drawer. "There's a festival sometime this week. Ask him then." 

"You can't be serious, Sylnan." Taking the sheet of paper from him, he quickly scanned it. 

"I am! Really! Look, we'll all be there. I promise it'll go well."

"..I'm holding you to that."

Sylnan shrugged eith a smile, pulling his boots back on and heading towards the door. "Should be nearly suppertime. You coming?"

"In a bit. I need to meditate for a little." 

"Alright." Sylnan shut the door, leaving Taxi to his thoughts. 


End file.
